Greeley police looking for suspect in 8th Avenue stabbing

Greeley police are searching for an armed and dangerous man they believe stabbed a man Aug. 16.

According to an arrest affidavit recently made public, officers are still searching for Arturo Armezquita, 29, a transient man they believe stabbed another man, Larry Gomez, in the leg, near the intersection of 8th Avenue and 13th Street.

Gomez said he and a friend, Karen Surgeon, had been walking south on 8th Avenue when Armezquita appeared and got into an argument with Gomez. Gomez described him as being a few inches under six feet tall, and about 240 pounds, with a tattoo on the back of his head. At some point during the argument, Gomez said, Armezquita produced a folding knife. Gomez told Surgeon to run, according to the affidavit, and Armezquita chased them.

Eventually, Gomez later told officers, Armezquita knocked him to the ground and stabbed him in the leg once. A doctor later called the wound a "serious bodily injury," and it was severe enough to break a bone in Gomez's leg.

Gomez was rushed to the hospital, the affidavit states.

Officers found a vehicle near the scene, registered to Armezquita. They also learned he'd been in a nearby barber shop just before the stabbing. Oscar Diaz, an employee at the shop said Armezquita entered the building and stayed in the bathroom for a long time.

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"I got a chance to talk to him, so I saw him pretty good," Diaz later told police.

Diaz also said he saw Armezquita commit the stabbing, and he was able to identify Armezquita out of a photo lineup.

Surgeon, Gomez's friend, also picked Armezquita out of a photo lineup as the unknown assailant.

"I remember this criminal from the day he stabbed my friend Larry," she wrote.

Sgt. Joe Tymkowych of the Greeley Police Department confirmed Wednesday afternoon there is still an active warrant for Armezquita's arrest. He is wanted on suspicion of first-degree assault.